The kids enjoyed Halloween. They each designed a Jack-O-Lantern (well, I helped with #5, he was more interested in pulling the "guts" out). Below is a photo - from top/left to bottom/right we have #3, #4, #2, #1, and #5. We didn't do much for trick-or-treating. We went around the mall, then to Costco, and out to visit both grandparents' houses.

2015 Halloween Jack-O-Lanterns

We still have two pumpkins out at my parents' house that didn't get carved (from a local farmer). At home we still have one Connecticut Field pumpkin and five or six of those odd hybrids - they were supposed to be blue pumpkins, and they have the right shape, but they're a waxy dark orange with lighter orange streaks and green patches. I plan to make a lot of pumpkin pie. How cool that this year we can have fresh pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving with our very own home-grown pumpkins!

I took advantage of an eBay promotion for a bunch of free listings in combination with a new advertising option on Bonanza to list all of my store items on eBay.... So I now have over 500 eBay listings. Please feel free to check them out here! Some end in a week, but most of them are 30 day listings that won't end until the end of November / beginning of December.

Uncharacteristically, I have allowed myself to start day-dreaming about what it might be like if we buy the house on 20 acres I have my eye on. I know the odds aren't in our favor. We've never gotten a loan before, and only recently acquired our first credit card. I've always been a firm believer that if you can't afford it, you don't need it... so building credit is something new to me. Anyway - daydreaming... I keep looking at the Google maps satellite view of the property, imagining where I'd put the garden, where the kids' play set will go, the possibility of several gardens to grow all kinds of food, and maybe even chickens some day. Tony has decided to wait a month and re-evaluate our finances to decide when it would be appropriate to approach the bank or real estate agent. I worry that the dream house won't be on the market anymore, but I have to keep reminding myself... if it's meant to be, it will be there and things will line up. With his new promotion and more work hours, hopefully we can get things going in the right direction.

I've been unusually stressed lately between Tony's extra hours (and this is just day 2), and the possibility of a forced move in our future. In the meantime, the most I can do is try to down-size my "stuff" to make moving easier, and put some money in our pockets to help with the move.

I made dinner tonight. I got a cooking twinge last night and decided I needed to make soup using as much of our own produce as possible. When I pulled carrots, I was disappointed at how small they all were, but I did get one nice one.

Biggest carrot of the year!

This morning I grabbed a bag of dried beans (16 bean mix) that has been sitting in the cupboard for a few years. Seriously, we've never cooked with dried beans that I can recall, but I picked up a few bags to use as seeds to plant our own. I read the package instructions, sorted through the beans (though I'm still not sure what it is I was looking for), rinsed them, put them in a pot of water, boiled them for a couple minutes, and then let the pot sit (covered) for a couple more hours. I drained and rinsed the beans and set them aside. In the big pot I chopped up a few of our very tiny onions, and put some soy sauce in the bottom of the pan so they wouldn't burn. I assume this is sauteed, but I didn't use oil. Once they were lightly brown (I'm not sure if that's from cooking or from the soy sauce, but they were softer), I cut up one small radish (from the garden), the small handful of carrots our garden gave up, and a stick of celery (from the store, chopped up). I added one can of Swanson Chicken Broth, the beans, and the spice packet that came with the beans, then I put it on low heat while I prepared and added the rest of the ingredients. I added a few fresh beans, a single pea pod, and a handful of small yellow tomatoes (I believe they were Blondkopfchen, Lemon Drop and Snow White), all cut into bite-sized pieces. As I added the Champion collard greens, and Red Russian Kale, I realized there wasn't enough liquid, so I added a can of Cream of Chicken soup. I added in a few fresh mint leaves and a few sprigs of parsley (both from the garden). I left it at medium heat for a while. Tony noticed it was condensing down, so I added another can of Cream of Chicken soup. About the time Mabel was attracted to the pot, the carrots were soft and we sat down to eat. Fortunately, it tasted a lot better than it looked. It was actually pretty good. Just #2 didn't care for it and made himself some left overs for dinner instead. Tony, #3 and #4 all asked for seconds! No leftovers at all from this recipe. I may double it next time and cook in two pots, but I'll need more from my garden (which is quickly failing this year).

Bean and Garden Veggie Soup

In a rarely seen show of tolerance, I found our entire feline family curled up on the couch today. Yes, that's right - all six, peacefully lounging! Of course I had to snap a photo. Mocha and (Nether)Quartz will be looking for new homes soon. Mocha isn't doing well with Roland in the house and would be better suited to a home where there isn't a canine bully (even if he thinks he's just playing). For those who didn't read previous blog posts, Floki is the daughter of Henry and Mabel. Trinket and (Nether)Quartz are the daughter and son of Henry and Mocha. Floki, Trinket, and (Nether)Quartz are pretty special. We lost three from each litter, making them survivors. Mocha is spayed now (after emergency c-section and $300+ vet bill), and (Nether)Quartz will be neutered 10/4 (at 11 weeks old). Mocha will be available to a new home anytime after the kittens are weaned (they'll be 8 weeks old 9/13), and (Nether)Quartz will be ready to go anytime after his neuter. Asking $150 each for them to approved homes if anyone is interested.

The bunnies are nearing adult size now. This is the hoard whenever I open the cage to check on them. They rush to greet me, and are always happy if I bring them handfuls of kitchen scraps or grass and dandelions. I'm going to have to thin them out soon. I can't keep seven bucks in one cage, and I am not keeping seven bucks (in addition to my breeding buck, Bennett - their dad). I may drop the asking price to $15 each and give it a week or two, but then I have to start slaughtering. :( Sad because they're really pretty rabbits. I think if they don't find homes, one or two of my favorites might "escape" out at my parents' house. Now that all the big dogs have passed away (and the last one moved away with my brother), there's nobody to chase them.

Mocha with her beautiful blue eyes

The garden provided us with another yellow tomato (I believe this one is Snow White, despite it being more yellow than the Lemon Drop tomatoes I've been picking). The one on the right is my first Large Barred Boar tomato. It's a little deformed, but that's because this one grew wedged between the stem and another branch that was twisted around the support pole. It cracked and I figured it was time to pull it. It's not completely ripe yet, but I'll leave it with the other two I've got set aside to ripen indoors.

Snow White and Large Barred Boar tomatoes

I just love the colors and stripes. Large Barred Boar is pretty to look at.

Yesterday our raised bed garden provided two delicata squash, two acorn squash, and a small handful of beans and tiny carrots.

Two delicata squash, two acorn squash, six beans, and five carrots

Yesterday I picked some tomatoes, and in bumping the bumblebee tomato plant, lost the biggest one... It's the purple/green one to the top/left. I'm hoping it will ripen in a paper bag.

Bumblebee and Blondkopfchen tomatoes

Today little #5 helped me pick tomatoes. We found one ripe Silvery Fir Tree tomato, four ripe Blondkopfchen, and he picked one green tomato too. We will add it to the bumblebee tomato and see what we get. We used the big red Silvery Fir tomato diced up with our burritos for dinner. I'm still not a fan. The skin is too thick and I don't care for the flavor. We will not be growing them next year.

#5 helping pick tomatoes - four Blondkopfchen, one Silvery Fir Tree, and one green from an unknown plant (didn't see him grab it).

Mocha and the two remaining kittens seem to be doing alright. Mocha doesn't spend a lot of time with them at this point. Floki is being an amazing babysitter (as big sisters tend to be) and stays with them almost all the time now. Trinket and (Nether)Quartz are looking thin, but are otherwise active. I'm hoping to introduce them to soft food later this week.

Family photo! Henry, Floki, Mocha, Trinket, and (Nether)Quartz.

A couple of days ago while walking the metal detector around my parents' yard, I came across some tiny fruits that made me think of plums. I did some research and identified the tree as a wild plum tree. How very neat! It turns out the fruit is edible, though pretty bitter. It definitely dried out my mouth. I ate one, and then harvested the rest to dehydrate with the apple slices. How unique, we can offer wild plum treats! I've never heard of that before. Unfortunately, there aren't many. I think the deer like them too, and being on the very edge of the yard, the deer have easy access.

American Wild Plums

I'm still working on raising funds for the pet store. I'm excited to get started, and I have so many amazing ideas! I just need the initial finances to get stocked and open the doors.

My little brother started his big move yesterday. He's heading out to the West Coast. He said he'll come back for Christmas. This will be the longest time I've been away from my brother. I wish him well on his move, and I hope he enjoys whatever adventures he finds out that way. I miss him already. I can hardly wait for Christmas. I'm no good with goodbyes and I hate change.

Speaking of change, school starts tomorrow for #1 and #2. The younger girls (#3 and #4) start their school next week.

Beautiful Bunnies

I still have all ten of the harlequin cross bunnies. They're getting big and they are quickly eating up a lot more food than anticipated. I thought most of them would be sold by now. I'm not sure why they aren't selling. I've had much plainer bunnies sell for the same price in the past. Unfortunately, they are nearing adult size, which means if they don't sell soon, they'll be headed for the stew pot.

Today I spent most of the day clearing out and readying the shade bed. This is a portion of dirt under the lilac tree that originally had a rose bush when we moved in. It has since been used as part of a dog kennel, and more recently, the resting place of two rabbit cages (nothing like letting nature do the fertilizer work for you). Those cages got moved last year or the year before and this plot has just been left to fend for itself. Until today, when #3 and #4 helped me clear it out. Sticks in the campfire pile, junk and random debris in the garbage, a couple nails and metal bits in a pile to recycle, all the seedlings from local trees and squirrel hoards pulled up, and finally, hand tilling the soil. It looks beautiful! I wish I'd have thought to get a "before" photo, but this "after" picture will have to suffice. The usable portion of this bed is 9-feet 9-inches by 4 feet, or 39 square feet. A portion of this bed runs under the house and is not usable.

The Shade Garden bed, ready for planting!

Because this garden is in dappled shade, the plan is to use it for greens - lettuce, spinach, cilantro, mustard, collards, kale, radishes, and possibly carrots too.

The winter sown containers that I have opened are flourishing. All of them are frost-resistant varieties, so I'm not terribly worried about them with the cold weather this week. I've got spinach, kale, collards, mustard greens, and a couple broccoli plants.

Mocha is having a rough time here since Mabel had the kittens. Henry has been taking out his upset at being locked away from Mabel and the kittens on Mocha, and picked on her mercilessly every night while Mabel and kittens were separated. I've noticed that during the day, now that we've re-integrated all of the cats together, Mocha does not lay with the other two. She's stopped to check out the kittens, but she doesn't seem interested in playing or interacting with the other cats at all.

In addition, #1's allergies have gone from sounding like her nose is always stuffed to uncontrollable itching and sneezing fits. I know a lot is likely the tree pollen and having windows open in the warmer weather, but I know some of it is Mocha too. After careful consideration, and as much as I adore her loving personality, we've decided that Mocha will be put up for adoption once she's spayed and fully vetted. I'm asking for donations to help pay her bills. At the moment we're budgeting paycheck to paycheck and there are a few more bills that need to get paid before we can start saving for Mocha's vet care. I am hoping that with some donations I can get her in sooner.

We are in for a week of cooler temperatures, down to almost freezing at night again. I tossed blankets over the tomatoes and tender seedlings that are up so far, and tomorrow I'm picking up a shower curtain. Hopefully it will allow the sun through and keep the heat in, so I won't have to keep putting it on and taking it off. Then it's just a matter of keeping the plants watered underneath.

The first night the blueberry plant was out the low was supposed to be 40-degrees, but the next morning my Weather Channel phone app said it was 32-degrees outside. Most of the leaves are turning yellow and dying back. I don't know if it is going to be able to be saved. I have it under the blanket tonight and I think tomorrow (if I can remember) I'm going to bring it in and put it under a grow light inside for the week until it warms back up and see if I can nurse it back to life.

Recently #3's Girl Scout troop did a gardening project and each of the girls got to take home a seed tray full of dirt and freshly sown seeds (they got to plant). She's thrilled that hers are popping up already. They'll be returning the seedlings at a later troop meeting and planting them into a community garden plot. From what I understand, the fruits of the garden will be donated to help feed the needy in our area. I just wish her troop leader would have told us, so I would have known to have extra space for them under the grow light! I've shuffled things around, and it looks like her seeds are happy now (though I think the Glaskins Perpetual Rhubarb I planted back in January is not going to make it long enough to go outside). The poor Prickly Pear cactus is pushed to the back and gets no light now as it's being covered completely by the Chester Thornless Blackberry that has gone absolutely crazy wild with growth.

It looks like out last frost date this year is around 5/27, so hopefully soon I can start moving some of these plants outdoors. They're starting to take over!

It's been a rough day for me. It's been one week since Nadia died, and I'm still feeling really lost. The panic and anxiety attacks are coming back again, and sometimes I have moments of desperation where I don't know how I'm going to function without her. I guess the simple answer is to say "well, it's a scary world out there" and tell myself to buck up and deal with it. But I'm torn. I'm not ready for another dog yet, but I know it's going to take time to train in a new service dog, and the sooner I start looking, the sooner I can find and start training one. But I'm not ready for that yet. I'm not ready to bring home another animal when I'm still struggling to get through the day without crying. Yes, a new dog would bring me great comfort, but I think I need to wait. The right dog will come along. Hopefully I realize it's the right dog and the right time.

Good news today! The seed trade from last month that was lost... well, he sent a second package, this time with delivery confirmation so we could track it. Turns out the whole mess was completely my fault. When typing my address I had transposed numbers in my zip code, so the package went "out for delivery" in Wisconsin! After a few hours on the phone trying to get a hold of someone from the Wisconsin post office, and eventually just calling the national number - a wonderful woman on the other end of the line fixed it. Within 24 hours, the package was where it was supposed to be. I waited until after school because #4 was very excited that it was coming today and wanted to be here when it was opened.

Well, the second package arrived (torn open, but doesn't appear to be missing anything), but the first one is still mysteriously missing in transit - possibly in Wisconsin. I want to give a huge thank you to Gary and Mia. They clearly spent a lot of time and energy making this package special for us, complete with beautiful cards and well labeled seeds. Each of the kids got their own personalized seed selection. Purple coneflowers for #4, meticulously glued to paper so she wouldn't drop them when she goes to plant them. Bird's Foot Trefoil for #3, which she excitedly asked if we could plant before school gets out so she can tell her friends about it. Butternut squash seeds for #2, which is great because he traded for some a while ago, but they came smushed and we weren't sure they'd actually germinate - so now he has some better seeds! Boston Pickling Cucumber for #1 to help her grow her pickle addiction. And not to be forgotten, they sent the zinnia seeds we sent them back, as a gift for little #5 with the suggestion we plant them in a circle to make a flower house for him. What a neat idea!! Almost immediately #4 asked for paper and a pen to write a thank you letter. Too cute!

My dear sweet Nadia is gone. Her collar is here on my desk, her body has been laid to rest in my parents' yard. I lied to her in the end. She was so upset that we were all crying. She didn't understand what was wrong, or why we were upset, and that made her upset. So in the end, I stood her up, and I told her we were going home. I told her to go to the car for a car ride. She wagged her tail and hobbled (almost ran) to the car, and voluntarily tried to climb in. She was so happy to go home. The vet did the injections in the car (after we had sat with her in the sun and grass for a long while). I took her paw print, and I believe I will get it tattooed, but I'm not sure where just yet.

On the way home from the vet (with Nadia's body in the back seat), we stopped by Hengel (a local construction company). They have all kinds of rocks (and dirt and sand and concrete), and I thought that we might be able to pick out a nice headstone for Nadia. The guy at the front counter was nice and when we explained that we just wanted one rock, for a headstone, he told us we could drive to the rock piles and pick one out. I found a very unique rock that looks almost as though there are fossils in it, and it has a chunk of quartz on one end. It really was unique, just like Nadia, so we loaded it up in the car and drove back to the office to pay for it. The man came out and told us we could have it for free. I will be sending a thank you note; and when it comes time to buy dirt to fill my raised beds, I will be using Hengel. A huge thank you for their kindness on a day that was otherwise very difficult for me.

Nadia's headstone / grave marker.

While Tony and my brother dug a hole, #3 and #4 set to scrubbing the stone clean with old tooth brushes and soapy water. It really looks even better cleaned up.

My parents have a patch of lilies growing wild in the woods just off the edge of their side yard, so I dug up a couple and planted them on either side of Nadia's head stone. It looks pretty nice.

It's been a rough day. My eyes hurt from crying so much, and I'm sure there's going to be plenty more tears to come. I'm really not sure what to do now. I've had Nadia longer than three of my kids, so I'm feeling really empty and lost, but mostly lonely.

Tony asked if I would start looking for a new dog to train in to be my service dog over the summer. My first thought is to immediately rush out and get a new dog to fill the void, but I know that's a bad idea. I don't want to compare a new dog to Nadia, because they'd never be able to match up. I need a dog that suits my needs, not just to fill a space. I don't know that I will ever find a perfect match like Nadia. Maybe an ideal candidate will come along, but I'm not going to be actively looking. Nadia was truly one of a kind, and I don't know that I'll ever find one even remotely like her if I searched the world over for the rest of my life.

Instead of focusing on what a great loss this is, I've decided to thank God for the decade (technically 11 years) Nadia and I spent together. For the beautiful friendship, fond memories, happy times (and some sad), and the support she gave me. The confidence we fostered in each other as we both grew and matured, for her everlasting patience with me, and I with her. For her unbelievable transition from terrified and abandoned, to confident family member. I am so thankful that I was blessed with caring for this amazing dog. At first I told people that I nursed her through the first couple years when she was so afraid of men and loud noises that she'd drop to the ground and urinate all over herself. That I cared for her through not one but two rounds of heartworm treatment because she was so infested when she was abandoned. That I diligently worked with her through obedience class to complete her CGC (Canine Good Citizen). But that was wrong. All along, she was the one saving me. She gave me purpose, she saw me though good and bad times, she taught me patience (I'm still learning), and reinforced putting other peoples' needs before my own. She gave me the confidence to go out in public, to speak to people, even to make eye contact with strangers. She gave me hope that I could regain some semblance of a normal social life with her by my side. At the risk of sounding cliche - I didn't rescue her, she rescued me.

I hope some day I can be rescued once again by a soul as magnificent as Nadia's was. See you again one day at Rainbow Bridge my precious girl. I love you Nadia. Good girl. Good girl.

I definitely have no shortage of chia seedlings at the moment. The entire surface of the soil in the milk jug is a carpet of green!

Chia seedlings, 3 days after planting

The three or four seed bombs for the wildflowers that I saw roots or sprouts in were put into another milk jug and they're starting to come up too. I have no idea what kinds of flowers these will be as I used two different mixes of seeds and there's 26 possible varieties in one mix, and 17 possible varieties in the other. A couple varieties overlap, but there's still a lot of possibilities. I have no idea what to expect with this lot. I'm sure they'll get too big in the milk jug and will likely die off before spring when I can put them outside in the soil. Oh well. At least I'm giving them a shot, right?

Wildflower seedlings, Day 3.

I continue to be impressed by the goji berry stems. The leaves are coming in quickly!

Goji cuttings, 8 days after planting.

I'm also thoroughly impressed with #3's spider plant. I picked this plant up at a local seed swap - someone had planted it in a little plastic picnic cup and didn't want it. I took two - one I gave to the neighbor (I think it died), and the other I gave to #3. I had just bought one for myself in the store. Mine was quite a bit larger than this one, I have mine planted in a hanging basket in the livingroom window and it's doing well. This one however, is now taller and has wider leaves than mine! Mine has more leaves, but it looks more like a small unkempt bush. This one is looking fantastic! It could really use a bigger container now. I think #3 wants to scour her grandpa's garage for a hanging basket so hers can be in the window with mine. It's not root-bound, so I'm not in a big hurry. It's a very nice looking spider plant though.

Today I baked the Amish Friendship Bread. It made three medium-sized loaves. Three flavors this time. S'mores was suggested by #2, so I added marshmallows, mini chocolate chips, and a few crumbled graham crackers, and then put whole graham crackers along the bottom. Banana was #3's choice, so I mashed up one banana and added it to the second loaf. Tony suggested honey, so the third loaf just has some honey (Minnesota grown) added. We will have a taste test tomorrow to see which flavor is the favorite this round.

Today I am blogging as I go. I'm making another batch of Apple Butter and fruit leather, but with a few modifications. This time I will be substituting local honey for the white sugar. Also, I'm using Honeycrisp apples this time.

My first note is that the honey crisp apples seem to be more lop-sided, making it harder to use the Apple Wedger. Good thing we can just use a knife and core it the old fashioned way. Today, #3 will be helping me in the kitchen.

Six Honeycrisp apples and a Pampered Chef Apple Wedger.

Cored and sliced

Cored, sliced, and chopped.

Everything in the Crock Pot.

Now for the difference. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup water, and 1 Tablespoon cinnamon. I'm going to use 1/4 cup local honey instead of the granulated sugar and no water (using the moisture from the honey instead).

Raw ingredients, mixed and ready to cook (for 4-1/2 hours on Low)

Cooked and in the blender

After four and a half hours on low in the Crock pot, everything goes in the blender to purée.

Puréed!

Once again, still sloppy and liquid so back into the crock pot it goes on high without the lid until it reaches the consistancy of jam. The recipe says one hour, but last time it took a lot longer.

I've also put some of the mix into the dehydrator to make fruit leather (set on Medium for another four hours).

Finished apple butter

After an additional two and a half hours in the crock pot, the apple butter is finally done. It was critiqued by #2 and he said he liked the sugar version better for the fruit leather, but the honey version better for the butter.

After dinner we ran back to the grocery store and bought a dozen Gala apples to try a doubled batch that will cook overnight. We will see how it turns out!

Today was the local home-school-group field trip to the post office. We had a flat tire and had to walk, and we missed the first several minutes, but it was otherwise a nice event. Our tour guide Matt was very patient with all of the kids and all of their questions. We stopped at the library on the walk home to see about getting a library card for #1. I'm not sure how we missed her, as #2 and #3 have library cards.

In the course of one of my seed trades, I was directed to MasterCook. They have a promotion that gives the program away to culinary students and teachers. I inquired if #2 might qualify, as he's home schooled and loves to cook, but neither of us is a professional, nor is it a college instructional set up. I was pleasantly surprised when they agreed! I made an account tonight, and hopefully after school work tomorrow he can take time to get to know the program and maybe start his recipe collection! I know he's looking forward to working with all of the new vegetables that we've been collecting seeds for. I figure using this program will help him to be a little more organized than trying to bookmark recipes in various cookbooks, cooking magazines, and recipe card boxes. Once he's gotten the hang of it, he's going to blog a review. He's been busy with school work and field trips, so we haven't had a lot of time for cooking, but now that things are settling into more of a routine, he should have more time to play in the kitchen and get back to his blog.

And speaking of that seed trade, the kids and I were very excited when the box came. I was anticipating some Gold Nugget squash, Turkey Craw Pole Beans, Key's Tennessee Orange tomato, and three sunflower varieties of seed. She sent a lot of extras, including several more varieties of sunflowers (which #2 quickly added to his seed stash), mixed zinnia seeds (which #3 paraded through the house with before I could convince her to keep them in the seed box), Homemade Pickles cucumber seeds for #1 (who thought the name was absolutely perfect), Purple Hyacinth Vine seeds for #4 (I had to look these up, I thought the seeds looked beautiful, but the flowers are gorgeous - #4 is going to love growing them), and even some fennel seeds! Wow! Thank you NCRedBird from DavesGarden!

And on a side note, we've decided to attempt rabbits again. We had them before, but my allergies got worse and at the time I was pregnant with #5 and was told the allergy medication wasn't good to take when pregnant. That coupled with pregnancy complications and a terrible winter and it was a bad experience all around. We will only be keeping a trio this time - two does and a buck. I realize it may be offensive to some people, but they are for meat breeding. Their poop will be used as fertilizer in the garden, they'll be able to eat the plant/garden scraps, and yes, the intent is to breed, grow, and eat the offspring of the original trio. I picked up the does today. Both brown. So as not to get attached to them, I will simply refer to them as Doe 1 and Doe 2. Our last rabbits all had names, which is why I never could come to actually slaughtering any of them - just sold the babies as pets. Now it's a matter of feeding the family, so breeding will be scheduled, and hopefully with selling a couple babies from each litter, I'll be able to have them pay for themselves (food wise). I'm still looking for a buck.

We have the first frost-advisory tonight. I covered the remaining dozen tomato plants and the Silver Mound that I planted recently. I hope that's enough to save them. It's supposed to be in the 30's again tomorrow night too. Yuck. I'm not ready for winter yet!!

Today I planted my Silvermound plant, and the new Halcyon Seas Siberian Iris plant. I am hoping the upcoming cold weather doesn't kill them by next week.

When the kittens died, we planted three iris plants over them. One of the plants didn't have enough root and died, so this one has been planted in the same space to replace the original one that had been there.

Easily one of my favorites. I remember picking this out with my mother-in-law many years ago and she planted them in her garden. They're so soft and such a different color. I hope I can do this one justice!

An update on the strawberries is pretty grim. Beaver Early is doing well, it has even set flowers (despite the fact that it's going to to get cold soon). Unfortunately the two varieties that came as runners didn't survive. Emily and Weisse Anasa dried up and shriveled despite my best efforts. I'm leaving them there on the off chance that maybe they took root and could come up next year. I doubt it, but here's to hope.

Beaver Early variety, PI 551838

Beaver Early variety - PI 551838

I cut open the chocolate peppers. The small one had three seeds but was not edible, so I won't be saving the seeds. The larger brown pepper was alright. Little #5 enjoyed chewing on small pieces, and even #3 and #4 liked it. That said, #2, the one who likes to eat raw bell peppers, was not impressed. I did manage to save 70 seeds and plan to plant them next year to see if they breed true (make more brown peppers). Could be a new variety, you never know!

The smaller pepper (on lined paper so you can see just how small it was).

Smaller pepper, cut open, exposing three seeds.

Larger chocolate brown pepper, on lined paper for size comparison.

Larger brown pepper cut open. There were 70 viable seeds, and a number of smaller, immature seeds that turned black when dried and were thrown away.

And in exciting news, I got three new varieties from GRIN today! Check the Research page for updates on these plants. I received PI 553322, Chester Thornless (blackberry), PI 553302, Royalty (purple raspberry), and PI 553307, Amethyst (purple raspberry). I selected these varieties for their winter hardiness. Unfortunately, it's late in the season and I'm worried the cuttings won't take root soon enough to survive the winter, so they've been dipped in rooting gel and planted in buckets indoors. I hope they do better than the apple tree attempt with the rooting gel.

I set up a new fundraiser page to try to get enough money for our ever expanding garden plans. I know it seems ambitious, but I really want to hit the ground running with this and have enough food at the end of the year to last us all winter next year. The more resources we can dedicate to the garden project, the better. We want to be implementing in-ground, raised-bed, container, and aquaponic gardening starting next spring.

Yesterday I picked the last of the Rideau Sweet tomatoes. There are a handful of other varieties that are "in progress" if they can avoid the bugs. One of the Purple Fairy tomatoes was almost ready and the bugs got to it.

Yesterday was also the first day of at home schooling for #1 and #2. Yesterday I struggled to get #1 on board with schooling from home, and today it's #2 who's having a melt down. Hopefully next week when #3 and #4 start regular school and are out of the house, the home schooling will go a bit better.

The tomatoes are doing much better now that they're up on the patio and have gotten some water and better sun. I do plan to plant them, but who knows if I'll actually get around to it or not. The pepper plants have about half-a-dozen little peppers growing, but only two or three are decent size. All green still. There is one Roma tomato that is turning orange, so it should be ready soon.

This is supposed to be a Sekai Ichi tomato, but none of the photos online seem to show stripes - so I'm not sure now.

The very first ripe tomato! This one is a Rideau Sweet - and it was delicious!

All of the tomatoes and peppers pulled up onto the patio. I really need to plant them soon!

Tasty black raspberries - our bush is back in full swing after we cut down a shading tree last fall that was choking out the bush.

In other news, #1 is away at summer camp for the week. The fair started yesterday but we haven't gone yet. Tony and #3 celebrated their birthdays recently with a trip to the zoo. Unfortunately the giraffe was sick so #3 didn't get to feed it carrots (which is why she wanted to go for her birthday in the first place)., but they had fun anyway.

The cats are now on stage 2 of the LitterKwitter and are using the hole in the center most of the time. Mabel continues to go in the litter beside the hole, but Henry has it right and uses the center hole to potty into the toilet. How cool is that!? I'm going to wait until Mabel uses the center hole consistently before moving on to the thinner ring (stage 3).

Tony continues to live stream his gaming every evening after the kids go to bed on Twitch. He's even made a server to host his own world on Terraria if anyone out there is interested in playing.

We are currently working on baby-proofing the house again, as #5 has now learned to move around. He's got a cross between a scoot and a crawl, but he certainly gets from place to place. The cats now dine up by the fish tank so that #5 doesn't try to eat their food.

I brought home a new fish. I have a 30-gallon tank that was set up several years ago for a foster turtle I was caring for. When I found the turtle a new home, I never bothered to tear down the tank as there were some fish in it at the time. Well, this spring we moved the last two fish upstairs to the actual fish tank, and I had an idea. The reptile light for the turtle is on a 12-hour timer, so the tank is getting 12 hours of light every day, which makes the algae quite happy. The tank has been established for quite a while and I don't treat it with anything (only add water as it naturally evaporates). No filtration, no bubbler, and I haven't put food in the tank for probably two years (the fish in the tank before ate the algae and the moths and such that were attracted to the light and fell in the tank). I decided to toss one small snail in the tank. It's making neat trails along the glass as it eats the algae. I added a plant to keep the water oxygenated, but then I was worried the algae might overtake the plant, so I've been holding off adding more plants for now. I did add a betta to the tank though. He's clear/white with translucent aqua tips on his fins and a black head. I've never seen one quite like him. We've named him Mister Cellophane. He is doing a fantastic job of patrolling the tank and eating any bugs that fall in. His roll in the tank is to be the fertilizer producer for the plant. I'm hoping the tank can be 100% self-contained with enough work. The light providing algae growth, the snail keeping the algae in check, the fish producing nitrates for the plant to grow, the plant oxygenating the tank for another future fish (since a betta breathes air from the surface). Small steps, so as not to disrupt any natural cycles already going on in the tank. I'm considering adding a second snail, but I know they're asexual, so it's just a matter of time before the one in the tank becomes many. If we get too many snails, I do have a turtle who loves to eat them - I'm sure she wouldn't mind if we dropped some extras in her tank. Anyway, welcome Mister Cellophane! And yes, his name is a Glee / Kurt Hummel reference.

And in exciting news - this morning I got a confirmation email that the online school has shipped the supplies for #2. He's going to be so excited. I can see him doing really well with this set up. He's a very smart kid, and he loves to learn.

Tonight we went though the Burger King drive through. We almost never eat out, but today was "Drive-Thru Day" so we figured we would celebrate. Two of the girls ordered bacon double-cheeseburgers and onion rings. We went on our way, dropping one of the girls off to spend the night at Grandma's house, and back into town to pick up some more appropriate grown-up food for Tony and I. As we pulled up to the second drive-through, #3 starts wailing that her hamburger has no bacon. Sure enough, no bacon and the wrapper doesn't have bacon marked. So we looked at the receipt. Yup, we paid for two bacon double cheeseburgers. A call to #1 to ask if her burger had bacon had her whining too - no bacon on hers either, but she'd just sat down to eat so didn't know until we asked her to look. I was so distracted with bacon catastrophe that I forgot to order my food without spicy sauce. Now we are home and Tony tried to call Burger King to let them know that we are displeased with their service, but their phone rings and goes to voice-mail. Having worked fast food, I understand being busy with dinner rush, but it's 8:30 at night. No reason someone there couldn't pick up the phone. So Tony had to file a complaint on their website. We'll see what happens.